Fuhad came on in the second half for MBBS to score a brace in 3-0 win against Economics as they (MBBS) qualify to the round of 16 on the 9th of August, 2024, at the SUB pitch.
The match kicked off at 3:17pm, with a questionable play from the student doctors. Seconds into the match, Prestige of MBBS made a through pass into the opposition’s box but the resulting shot by Ola was deflected by what seemed to be a handball; however, the referee made no call. MBBS kept pressing, won their first corner kick but the resulting header from Ojot went over the bar. The play from MBBS players still wasn’t interesting but it didn’t tell so much difference as the opponents were equally poor, or even worse.
After a few interceptions and passes, Ojot made a dangerous run with the ball but saw his shot cleared off the line. At that point, the game got a bit interesting. Both sides kept charging at each other but there was still obvious grumbling from the stands as the match seemed to be below their expectations and the ball also seemed to raise questions. Economics seemingly played better close to the end of first half but their best was just stringing a few passes close to the 18-yard box and harmless corner kicks well taken care of by MBBS defenders. Both sides kept kicking the ball about, literally, with avoidable defensive errors. All this went on and the deadlock remained unbroken till the half time whistle.
The second half began at 3:58 pm, with MBBS making two substitutions, Gerald and Fuhad coming on for Portian and Ojot, respectively. The MBBS side seemed to have received new instructions or a backlash during the half time break as they doubled up on their performance from the first half. Ola’s freekick attempt was saved by the keeper earning them (MBBS) their first corner in the second half; the resulting corner tarried in the box, with different legs thrown at it but Fuhad got the better kick as he puts it in the back of the net in the 33rd minute.
The tempo surprisingly increased as the game went on. Tofunmi from MBBS came on for Tafar right before Ola started an impressive run in the 44th minute on the left flank. He dribbled past 3 defenders before beautifully setting up Fuhad who converts the chance to get his second in. It’s 2-nil to the doctors and the fans were asking for more. Ola of MBBS kept toying with the Economics backline, feeding the eyes of those who cared to watch. The Economics players had a few counter attacks served on a platter for them but they made nothing from it. Ola’s efforts paid off as he put his name on the score sheet in the 50th minute after sending the last defender the wrong way.
MBBS made their 4th substitution after an Economics player went down, Simeon for Habeeb. Economics searched for a consolation goal as they registered a shot which was off target by inches, their first threatening attempt in the second half. A few more attempts were registered from them but that was just it, attempts. The fulltime whistle was blown at 4:26 pm. MBBS finish top of their group with 9 points, 6 goals scored and 1 conceded. Economics are out of the competition, scoring no goal in this edition.
Speaking with UIMSA Press, Usman, popularly known as Konami, from Economics said “The match was good, the opposition was good but nothing was special about their playing style, our problem was scoring goals, our forwards burnt out easily we need to work on that.” Olamide Omotunde, MBBS head coach, said his team still needs to improve. In his words, “We played well, need to improve on our attack and score more goals, yeah that’s it.”
Joseph Jacobs.
